By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 9 – June 26, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Since 2014, a toxicology lab at the University of Colorado has used mass spectrometry to offer low-cost, accurate multi-analyte test panels that can detect hundreds of therapeutic drugs and drugs of abuse. However, CU Toxicology’s chief medical officer says health insurers are slow to accept this diagnostic technology, despite its demonstrated clinical benefit
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 9 – June 26, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: News that Quest Diagnostics had exited the long-running CompuNet Clinical Laboratory joint venture in Dayton, Ohio, caught many observers by surprise. The only clues as to possible problems and the motivation of Premier Health, the 51% owner, to buy out Quest’s ownership share are contained in an announcement the health system issued. The
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXIV, No. 9 – June 26, 2017 issue
This is an excerpt from a 1,362-word article in the June 26, 2017 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available for a limited time to all readers, and available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: For lab managers worried about being parceled out to a national
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIV, No. 5 – April 3, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In a letter to the Texas Legislature, 20 Texas medical societies say UnitedHealthcare’s BeaconLBS program would be detrimental to patient care. The Texas Medical Association and the Texas Society of Pathologists said they were concerned that the program increases the administrative burden on referring physicians, takes away a physicians’ right to choose a
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIV, No. 3 – February 21, 2017 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Following passage of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, officials at PeaceHealth and PeaceHealth Laboratories began to model the financial effect this law would have on this long-established hospital lab outreach program. Based on projections of a 20% cut in revenue during the first two to three years of the Medicare
By Mary Van Doren, from the Volume XXIII No. 17 – December 19, 2016 issue
This is an excerpt from a 3,200-word article in the December 19 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The complete article is available for a limited time to all readers, and available at all times to paid members of the Dark Intelligence Group.
CEO SUMMARY: THE DARK REPORT’S annual list of the Lab Industry’s Top 10 stories for
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIII No. 17 – December 19, 2016 issue
CEO SUMMARY: In launching BeaconLBS in Texas, UnitedHealthcare included a new, more onerous twist than it used for BeaconLBS in Florida. To be a BeaconLBS in-network ‘lab of choice,’ a lab must be in the lowest quartile for lab test prices. Any lab above the 25th percentile would have to renegotiate its contract with UHC
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIII No. 17 – December 19, 2016 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Within THE DARK REPORT’S list of the Top 10 Lab Industry Stories for 2016 is one story of disruption that might have been one story of disruption about to happen. The disintegration of Theranos during 2016 is the big story about a self-proclaimed disruptor of the lab industry that finds itself struggling just
By Joseph Burns, from the Volume XXIII, No. 16 - November 28, 2016 issue
ON THE SUBJECT OF LAB TEST MARKET PRICE REPORTING as required under PAMA, many clinical laboratory executives, pathologists, and industry experts see deep flaws in the process the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has established. Yet, CMS itself seems blind to these flaws.
Fortunately, the clinical lab executives are not alone. The Office of
By Robert Michel, from the Volume XXIII, No. 16 - November 28, 2016 issue
CEO SUMMARY: Just four weeks remain before CMS begins collecting private payer clinical laboratory test price data. Many lab industry executives have charged that Medicare officials are not following the language of the PAMA statute or the intent of Congress. At stake are $5.4 billion in Part B fee cuts that CMS plans to introduce.
